1. 這是個什么詞？

詞：occasional

英英釋義：happening sometimes but not often or regularly

例句：Although I am well traveled, I have mostly visited different parts of my own country and have made only occasional overseas trips.

2. 為什么選這個詞？

名詞“occasion”有很多個意思，比如“場合” “時機” “特別時刻”等。它的形容詞“occasional”意思比較單一，是“偶爾的”，常用、好用，值得掌握。它的副詞“occasionally”（“偶爾地”）也可以順便收入囊中。當我們想表達某個現(xiàn)象偶然才出現(xiàn)或某個事件偶然才發(fā)生時，除了使用 sometimes, from time to time, every now and then 之外，還可以使用 “occasional”和“occasionally”，尤其是在書面表達中。

我們來看幾個例子。 華裔美國德州撲克高手 Johnny Chan 勝率極高，偶爾才會輸給對手，就可以說：

Johnny Chan is a formidable poker player and only loses very occasionally.

再比如，我去過不少地方，但很多都是國內的各個省份，時不時才去國外旅行一次，就可以說：

Although I am well traveled, I have mostly visited different parts of my own country. I have traveled abroad only occasionally.

或

Although I am well traveled, I have mostly visited different parts of my own country and have made only occasional overseas trips.

《經濟學人》在一篇寫紐約的 Christmas special 文章中有這么一句：

An occasional plane passes overhead, perhaps to La Guardia, perhaps to JFK.（La Guardia 和 JFK 是紐約市的兩大機場。）

《經濟學人》有一篇訃告寫的是一個暴徒，里面有這么一句：

He occasionally regretted the shame he had brought on his family, but for his victims and their relatives he felt nothing.

3. 怎樣學會使用這個詞？

1）翻譯下面的句子：

露西擅長山水畫，偶爾也畫畫油畫。

（參考翻譯：Lucy is especially good at traditional Chinese landscape painting, but occasionally she does oils too. 或 Though an expert on traditional Chinese landscape painting, Lucy does occasional oil painting too. ）

2）結合自己的生活、學習、工作、興趣等，想象在什么語境下會用到這個表達。先簡要描述這個場景，再造句。

例子： 他是一名英語老師，但有時也會做一些翻譯。

場景 ：He is an English teacher, but occasionally he works as a translator.